A new battle for Blair Mountain
IN 1921, over 10,000 union miners risked their lives and faced bullets and bombs from federal and state agents and thugs. For five days, the coal miners confronted 30,000 coal company scabs and police in an attempt to unionize the coalfields. This was the Battle of Blair Mountain--the largest armed insurrection on American soil since the Civil War. It is one of the main events in United States labor history and the key event in the history of miners' struggle in Appalachia.
And now what do they want to do with the battlefield at Blair Mountain? The property owners of the land don't want to preserve this historic site. They want to mine it. They want to erase the history of this site and eradicate the deep cultural roots of Appalachia and the labor movement.
In spite of company buyouts, thug intimidation and coal-sponsored politicians, the people of Appalachia have spent the past few decades organizing around defeating mountain top removal (MTR) mining, a process in which entire mountain summits are blasted away to mine for coal.
The anti-MTR movement culminated in June 2011 with another march on Blair Mountain that brought together 1,000 people from across the world to descend on the site and take the mountain. When the 700 people who marched the last leg of the march reached the dirt road that would take them to the ridge line of the battlefield, the organizers held a short rally and planted a sign recognizing the historical importance of the mountain--but then turned everyone back down the road, disappointed.
At no other moment in the Appalachian peoples' struggle has such a large group been mobilized against the horrors of MTR. The potential of the march was known by everyone present, the mountain was ours for the taking. The handful of state troopers harassing marches while they filed up the mountain in their single-file line would not have been able to prevent an occupation of the summit. It would have taken the West Virginia State Police hours, if not days, to remove by force every last person from Blair.
Despite the outcome of the actions taken that day, however, the movement had taken a great step forward and everyone involved was emboldened.
This leads us to the present situation in which the people of Appalachia find themselves. Arch Coal and its allies are charging forward with plans to annihilate Blair Mountain.
Why must they eliminate Blair? Is the miniscule coal seam and its possible profit underneath of the battlefield really worth fighting for? They have spent untold millions buying out residents, buying off politicians and defending their "mineral rights" in courts--all for this isolated piece of land.
They want this land because it is a constant reminder to the people of Appalachia--an unwavering symbol of the power deep inside of the working class. It is a memorial to the 16 union miners who fought and died for freedom. Blair Mountain became the culmination and image of an entire struggle, an entire collective dream.
Blair Mountain helped give the labor struggle moral integrity. Now we must return the favor. As the coal companies descend on Appalachia for her resources, we must stand in her defense. The people and mountains of Appalachia are sending out the call--fight for Blair on every front and defeat Arch Coal.
Ethan Young, from the Internet
